Whiplash for Your Cash
We’ve seen this movie before:
The media knows that nothing captures eyeballs better than photos of distressed traders during periods of extreme market volatility, and the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average this week has certainly given shorter-term speculators whiplash:
- Monday, August 12 -391 (trade war anxiety)
- Tuesday, August 13 +373 (delayed tariffs)
- Wednesday, August 14 -800 (yield curve inverts)
- Thursday, August 15 +100 (strong consumer spending at retailers)
- Friday, August 16 (as of 10:57AM) +296 (Treasury yields recover from multi-year lows)
The media also glorifies this uncertainty; sensible, veteran investors (dare we say most Towerpoint Wealth clients) see it for what it is – noise. The daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly machinations of the stock market are inevitable, and the sooner that fact is internalized, the higher the probability of success in building and protecting net worth. Craziness like this happens REGULARLY, as evidenced by one of our favorite illustrations:
Level-headed investors should appreciate the above illustration, especially within the context of this one, reflecting the probability of earning positive returns in the stock market, as measured by the S&P 500:
When things get temporarily crazy, we find ourselves asking: WWWD? Translated – What Would Warren (Buffett) Do? His answer:
Big swings in the markets may not be enjoyable, but they are definitely a fact of life, and for those who have implemented a disciplined strategic investment plan, volatility should be expected and embraced, not feared.
Towerpoint Wealth at Oracle Park
Our President (and Philadelphia Phillies fan) Joseph Eschleman, Partner – Wealth Advisor, Jonathan LaTurner, and Director of Tax and Financial Planning, Steve Pitchford, were fortunate to be hosted by Laura McDowell of Charles Schwab in the Schwab suite at Oracle Park for the Phillies – Giants game this past Saturday.
Choosing to partner with Charles Schwab as our custodian was unquestionably one of the most important early decisions we made when launching Towerpoint Wealth as a fully independent registered investment advisory (RIA) firm. From executing transactions to holding and clearing client assets, as well as monthly account and annual tax reporting, product and client management, investment research, and technology, working with the right custodian is an essential responsibility we have in being a legal fiduciary to our clients.
It quickly became obvious to us that partnering with Charles Schwab, the biggest, most experienced, and longest-tenured RIA custodian, was the right move to make for our clients, and we sincerely could not be happier with our partnership with “Chuck” and Co.!
In addition to market volatility and Bay Area baseball, a number of trending and notable events have occurred over the past two weeks:
- Jeffrey Epstein, American financier and convicted sex offender, found dead in his jail cell from apparent suicide
- Mass shootings occur on the same day in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas
- Toni Morrision, RIP
- Hong Kong protests against China continue
- President Trump expresses interest in buying Greenland from Denmark
- North Korea launches missile tests, insults North Korean president
Lastly, please take three or four minutes to review the curated content found below, highlighted by:
- Our recently-published July, 2019 Monthly Market Lookback, Summer in the City
- A snapshot of the new custom Towerpoint Wealth sustainable investment offering
- A tongue-in-cheek and well-written article that suggests spending money to buy expensive coffee drinks won’t necessarily derail your retirement!
As always, we encourage you to reach out to us (info@towerpointwealth.com) with any questions, concerns, or needs you may have. The world continues to be an extremely complicated place, we are here for you, and look forward to connecting with, helping, and being a direct, fully independent, and objective expert financial resource for you.
– Joseph, Jonathan, and the entire Towerpoint Wealth team
